Mark Cuban's best investing advice: 'Don't'

When Entrepreneur
asked him on the set of "Shark Tank" for his best advice to make
money investing, he replied: "Don't."

"The market could go up for years, and you could think you're
well off," he told
Entrepreneur, "and then, in a millisecond with high-frequency
trading, a flash crash can take it all away. That's why you want
to have that money in the mattress, that savings, so you're
protected in case something goes wrong."

However, Cuban's investing advice isn't the same given by most
financial pros. While the consensus is that the ordinary person
shouldn't take on undue risk in order to try and "beat the
market," most agree that some exposure to the market, at the very
least in the form of retirement
accounts, is necessary to keep your money growing fast enough
to beat inflation.

Low-cost index funds (a type of mutual fund pegged to a
specific market index) are also regularly recommended by some of
the wealthiest people around. Experts such as Warren
Buffett,
Charles Schwab, John Bogle, and Charlie Munger agree that
low-cost index funds are the
best way for the average person to invest.

"A low-cost index fund is the most sensible equity investment for
the great majority of investors," Buffett told Bogle in "The
Little Book of Common Sense Investing." "By periodically
investing in an index fund, the know-nothing investor can
actually out-perform most investment professionals."

Whether you feel comfortable investing, Cuban's advice on putting
together an emergency fund before making any other major
decisions with your money is echoed by most experts. Looks like
it's time to start saving.